Decisions, decisions

By Tom Bason
June 22 2010

Back in 1981, Aston villa won the top flight using just fourteen players. In 2009, Manchester United were crowned Premier League Champions having fielded thirty-one different players. Now is the time of the squad.

Ask 10 Man Utd fans to name their best starting 11, and you'll probably get 7 or 8 different answers. Sir Alex Ferguson has so many different options to choose from that he can pick his team depending on the opposition. Play against a team with a flying full back, he'll pick Ji-SungPark as a defensive winger. If the opposition’s fullbacks are happy to just defend, Nani or Antonio Valencia will look to attack them. To do this, you need a squad of 18-20 players, all at a similar level, and this is what Wolves appear to be achieving this summer.

To me, this is the strongest Wolves team I've ever seen (I'm 24), not just in terms of the starting-11, but the depth of players behind them, ready and willing to step in. We have so many options now, especially defensively. Given the players we have, and I'll admit to not knowing much about Steven Mouyokolo or Jelle Van Damme, we should be able to seamlessly switch between players and systems. Playing against a team with one up front? No problem, pick a flat back-4. Against a team playing a straight forward 4-4-2? Easy- pick any three out of Ronald Zubar, Christophe Berra, Jody Craddock, Mouyokolo, Van Damme and Richard Stearman to play in defence, with Stephen Ward and Kevin Foley as wingbacks. The opposition change to 4-5-1 mid game? Just push one of the wingbacks into midfield and move one ofthe centre backs to fullback. Back to 4-4-2 and we won't be caught out.

In midfield, it’s a similar story. The likes of Adlene Guedioura, Dave Jones, Karl Henry and Dave Edwards enjoy playing at a fast tempo. We want to slow it down a bit? Play Nenad Milijas and concentrate on keeping possession. On the flanks,we now have three specialist wingers, plus an unknown quantity in Geoffrey Mujangi Bia,and three or four other players who are more than competent out there. We can play orthodox wingers (Michael Kightly or Matt Jarvis on the right, Stephen Hunt on the left), or swap them round to become inside-out wingers, thus creating space for our attacking fullbacks (should we choose to play them) to provide the width. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Kightly playing in a more central role, in the space between the striker and the midfield, with Jarvis and Hunt providing the width.

And upfront, we have three strikers. This is probably our weakest area. Andy Keogh and Stefan Maierhoffer probably are not at the level required to play inthe Premiership, while Sam Vokes is still too young to be considered for a regular first team berth. The other three all have points to prove though, and can all add different qualities. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake is an 18-yard box striker, perfect if playing two upfront. Give him the ball in the penalty area, and more often than not he'll get a shot away. Kevin Doyle is probably our best all round striker, and is the most suited to playing one-upfront. My favourite thing about him is he's so difficult to defend against. Get tight to him, and he'll beat you to the flick on. Stand off him, and he'll bring the ball down, turn and run at you. He's also very good at bringing others into play. Stephen Fletcher’s best attributes will become more apparent over the course of the season, but from what I've seen of him, he's perfectly happy playing through the middle or out wide, again giving us a multitude of options.

The one thing I feel we are slightly weak on are players to play between the lines. Karl Henry is the only real option currently to play in-front of the back-4, and should he pick up an injury we may struggle there. The same goes for players playing between the midfield and the strikers who are so hard for defenders to pick up. Milijas, Kightly and Edwards are probably the best options there, but they are not ideal. It will also be interesting to see how Mick McCarthy handles his squad. Will the likes of Stearman and Milijas be happy to spend long periods of time without seeing much game time? Keeping the fringe players happy is a vital role for the modern day manager, and it would not surprise me if no Wolves fan knows our strongest 11 come next May.